Native wildlife often seems commonplace to those who live in the same neighborhood, but Ohio’s ubiquitous groundhogs and cardinals fascinated a Scottish marathoner I ran with several years ago.

As we ran through frozen Highbanks Metro Park that winter afternoon, I pointed out familiar creatures that he’d never seen before. His enthusiastic curiosity reminded me of the thrills and leaps of my own heart at first sight of something, or somewhere, yet unexplored.

Harbor seals may be as ordinary to coastal Californians as Canada Geese and groundhogs are to residents of our Great Lakes region, but to the traveler who knows she won’t see them tomorrow, they become a notable image to carry home.